Storage brooder



V. L. GRAHAM STORAGE gnoonmn Oct. 18, 1932.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25. 1929 Inventor Attorney Oct. 18, 1932.- v. L. GRAHAM STORAGE BRQODER Filed May 25 9 5 Sheets-s 5 v Inventor I By A iiqrney v. 1.. GRAHAM STORAGE BROODER Oct. 18, 1932'.

Filed May 25, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 y In ventor Vi. 'raiawm Attorney Oct. 18, 1932.

y. GRAHAM STORAGE BRQODER Filed May 25, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 In ventor VL drd/kaifi By Attorney PatentedOct. 18, 1932 PATIENT -or =ica man 1.. exam, or NEVADA, 01110 STORAGE BBO ODEB Application fled Kay '85,

The object of my said invention is the pm vision of a practical brooder, more especially a brooder' of the storage type, efficient and safe in operation, calculated to preserve the Q health of the'chicks, requiring but little attention on the part of an operator, and susce ti- -ble of being quickly and easily cleaned w en occasion deman a L Other objects and practical advantages 10 of the invention will be fully understood from thefollowingdescription and claims when the same are read in connection with the drawings, accompanying and forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a front. ferred embodiment of my invention,

Figure'2 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section taken on a plane parallel to the face of Figure 1. Figure 3 is-an enlarged fragmentary elevation illustrative of the ventilating means embodied in the brooder. I

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail elevation taken from aview point at the right of Fig- 25 Fire 5 and looking toward the left of said re.'. Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the plane, indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig-' ure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail vertical section on the line 6-6 of Figure 7 illustrative of the cleaning means of my improvement.

H Figure 1 is a detail broken plan view of w the same. I

Figure 8 is a plan view show' the trays and its-appurtenances.

Figure 9 is a broken'sectional view illustrating one of the troughs, there being one g one of trough to each tray.

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail view illustrative' of the twolfunnels complementary to each trough.- f

Figure 11 is an enlarged transversevertical section on the planeindicated by the line 11-11 of Figure '8 looking toward the left, and illustrating the manner in which the trough is detachably connected with the r traiy. igure 12 is an enlarged detail broken levation of the pre'-.

1929. mm m. 865,884.

view illustrative of the pipe for heating urposes in each. tray compartment of the rooder. a

Figure 13 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrative of the comparatively large in- 56 terstices or openings provided in the lower portion of the front wall of 'eachtray in order to enable the chicks to readily reach the water and food' in the trough.

Figure 14'is a detail view illustrative of one of the cleaning belts hereinafter explicitly referred to. Figure 15 is a detail view of one of the bars 19m, showing the L-shaped character of said bars. Similar numerals'of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the views of the drawings. 4 I

Among other elements the preferred brooder comprises a casing 1 which is closed at its back and at its sides and is open at its front. The said casingl is divided by spaced floors 2 into a plurality of chambers 3, arranged one above the other and designed to contain trays 4, one tray to each chamber, and. the chambers and trays being varied in height as will be readily understood'from Figure 1, so that the brooder may be utilized to take care of chicks as they develop in age,

the scheme of my invention contemplating F the removal of small chicks from the upper tray to lower tray, as the ageof the chicks increases. Each of the floors 2 is referably provided with a downwardly de ected side portion 5 which extends through an opening 6 in one side wall of the casing 1 as best shown in'Figure 6. 7

At thesides of each chamber 3 are provided rail supports 7 and on each pair of railsupports are superimposed flanges 8 on the sides of a tray so that the tray may be readily removed through the open front of the casing 1 and may as readily be replaced in its respective chamber or com artment 3.

Each of the tra s 4 is provi ed with a bottom and upright ront, back and end walls of reticulated material, preferably wire screen, and it will be understood from Figures 1 and 13 that the lower portion of the front wall of each-tray is provided with comparatively bars of the wire screen material.

As will be understood from Figures 1, 8, 9 and 10, there is a trough 8 complementary to each tray 4. Each trough 8 is divided by a partition 9 into a compartment 10 for the reception of food and a compartment 11 for the reception of water, and from the compartment 11 of each trough depends a funnel 12, best shown in Figures 9 and 10. I employ in each funnel 12 a funnel 13, each funnel 13 having openings 14 for the passage of water. From each funnel 12 depends a rubber tube 15, the lowest tube 15 being designed to discharge into a receptacle placed to receive the excess water, and the other tubes 15 being arranged to discharge into the compartment 11 of the next lower trough. By virtue of this arrangement it will be understood that water may be supplied in any approved manner to the compartment 11 of the upper trough 8, and when the upper compartment 11 is filled, the overflow water will pass through the openings 14 of the adjacent funnel 13 and down into the compartment 11 of the next lower trough 8, and when the latter compartment 11 is filled with water the surplus water will pass to the compartment 11 of the next lower trough, and so on throughout the series. In this way all of the troughs 8 or rather the compartments 11 thereof may be supplied with water from a single point which conduces to facility of supply and renders the work of an attendant much easier. The funnels 14 are preferably removable in order to facilitate cleaning thereof, and the rubber tubes 15 are preferably removable from the funnels 12 to facilitate cleaning of the said parts.

As best shown in Figure 1 the tubes 15 are arranged in front of the trays, and manifestly being flexible the said tubes will not interfere with the removal and replacement of the trays through the front of the frame.

For instance, the lowermost tray may be removed and replaced in the manner stated Without interference from the tube 15 of the next upper tray.

I show best in Figures 8 and 11 the manner in which each trough 8 is connected with its complementary tray 4. By particular reference to said figures 8 and 11 it will be understood that each trough 8 is provided at its ends with a rear extension or lug 16 notched at 17 to engage one of the bars in the front wall of the tray., Each of the said lugs or extensions 16 is of readily bendable metal, and each is provided with a tongue 18 which is designed to be bent at right angles to the major portion of the lug 16 and to rest under one of the horizontal bars of one end .wall of the tray so as to prevent casual downward movement of the trough 8. It will also be understood in this connection that when it is desired to remove the trough 8 from its complementary tray 4, the same may be readily accomplished after the tongue 18 is bentinto alinement with the major portion of its lug 16, whereupon the notched portion of the lug may be manipulated out of engagement with the horizontal bar of the front wall of the tray. By reversing the said operation the trough 8 may be readily connected to its respective tray so that the trough at each end will be supported by one of the horizontal bars of the front wall of the tray while its tongue 18 disposed under one of the horizontal bars of the end walls of the tray will prevent tipping of the trough.

In the upper portion of each chamber or compartment 3 is secured an L-shaped bar 19w on which is supported and adjustable ahover curtain 2000. One of the said curtains 20w depends into" each tray 4, and said curtains are to serve the usual purpose that is to say to afford a portion of the tray that is warmer than the remainder of the tray.

Figure 2 of the'drawings shows the floors 2 which are of imperforate character are arranged in spaced relation below the trays 4, so that droppings will pass through the interstices in the bottom walls of the trays and will be deposited upon the upper side of the floors 2. Therefore, in order that each floor 2 may be expeditiously and easily cleared of collected droppings when necessity demands, I provide in conjunction with each floor 2 a cleaning apparatus best illustrated in Figures 2, 6, 7 and 14. The said cleaning apparatus comprises idler pulleys 19, belts 20 passed around said pulleys and also passed through one opening .6 in the casing wall and engaged with sprockets 21 on a shaft 22, and scraping blades 23 carried by the'said belts 20. One end of the shaft 22 is of angular form in cross section as shown in Figure 7 for the application of a crank, see dotted lines in Figure 3, whereby the shaft 22 may be readily turned for the movement of the belt 20. From Figure2 it will be understood that the scrapers or scraping blades 23Iare arranged in a group, so that when the cleaning apparatus complementary to a particular floor 2 is idle, all of the blades 23 will rest under the floor and be protected against droppings. .VVhen however, it is desired to putthe cleaning mechanism of any particular floor into operation, the shaft 22 .is turned through the medium of a crank whereupon the scraping blades 23 will travel over the uppersurface of the said floor 2 in the direction indicated by arrow in Figure 6, wit-h the result that all droppings on the said floor 2 will be moved through the respective opening 6 and discharged from the downwardly deflected end of the floor 2 into a receptacle placed to receive the droppings. After the completion of the cleaning operation, the belts are so manipulated as to dispose the blades 23 under their respective imperforate floor 2 for the purpose before indicated.

For the purpose of heating the chambers or compartments 3 of the brooder I provide means best shown in Figures 1, 2 and 12 0f the drawings. The said means comprises a boiler in which water may be heated by a lamp or other heating means, not illustrated, up-' right pipes 26 communicating with and extending upwardly from the boiler 25 and communicating at their upper ends 1n an expansion tank 27, valved pipes 28 leading from the pipes 26 through the upper portions of the chambers or compartments 3, and return pipes 29 connected to the ends of the pipes 28 remote from the pipes 26 and leading back to the boiler 25. Manifestly by manipulation of the valves 30 complementary to the pipes 28 the amount of heat supplied to any particular chamber or compartment 3 may be increased or diminished as the judgment of the attendant dictates.

It is frequently desirable in brooders to humidify the atmosphere in the chambers or compartments 3, and toward this end I lead a pipe 31 upwardly from the boiler 25 and at the relative point shown in Figure 1 I merge the said pipe 31 into an elbow 32 which 1n turn is merged into a depending pipe 33 which is provided at its lower end with a drain cook 34 for drawing off water of condensation.

when the same is necessary. The elbow or goose neck 32 is higher than the highest point that water reaches in the heating system.

I also equip the pipe 33 with lateral pipes 35, Figure 2, which extend into the upper portions of the chambers or compartments 3 and terminate in nozzles 36. These lateral pipes 35 are equipped with valves 37, and,

from this it follows that when it is desired to humidify the interior of any particular one of the chambers or compartments 3, all

. that the attendant has to do: is to open the valve 37 complementary to the said chamber or compartment 3 whereupon a vapor will be discharged from the pipe 33 into the said chamber or compartment 3.

My invention further contemplates the embodiment in a brooder of simple and adequate means for automatically ventilating the several chambersor compartments'3 so that the atmosphere in said chambers or compartments 3 will be at all times in a wholesome state. Toward this end I provide at the back of the casing 1 and in spaced relation thereto an upright conduit 40-which is open at both ends, and I also connect the several chambers or compartments 3 with the said conduit 40 through the medium of'conduits 41, Figures 3 and 5. I alsoprovide an opening 42 between each conduit 41 and the conduit 40, and for the automatic control of said opening 42 I provide a valve43 mov able by a wafer thermostat 44, there being one valve 43 and one thermostat 44 comple mentary to f each compartment 41 and each chamber or compartment 3. It is unnecessary to specifically describe the thermostat 44 as my invention contemplates the employment of a thermostat of any desired construction.

. It suffices to say that the wafer in the thermostat body 44 is fixedly connected to a bar as 45 fixedto the casing 1, and that to the 1 said wafer and movable therewith is connected a rod 46 which is threaded as at 47 for the adjustable mounting of the valve 43, the said valve'43 being 'adustably fixed in position 'through'the medium of a lock nut 48. Each of the chambers 3 being equipped with the thermostatic means indicated, it follows that the valve 43 of any particular chamber or compartment 3 may be adjusted independently of the valve 43 complementary to any other chamber or chambers 3. It also fol-- lows that when the temperature in a particular chamber 3 reaches a predetermined-point, the thermostatic wafer will move the valve 43 I toward the left in Figure, 5, and thereby enable the current of air passing upwardly in theconduit'40 to draw heated air outward through the conduit 41 and opening 42 and upward through the conduit 40, and to draw fresh air into the said chamber 3 and in that way bring about a lowering of the temperature in the chamber. By the sametoken when the temperature in the chamber falls below a predetermined. point, the said thermostatic arrangement will. close the valve 43 complementaryto the chamber so that a raising of the temperature in the particular chamber referred to will be brought about. For the purpose of aifordingready access to the several valves 43, the conduit 40 is provided in its wall remoteefr om the casing 1 with openings controlled by doors 50', Fig ures 3 and 5.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in the use of my br0oder,'the chicks while enabled to readily reachthe food and water will be efi'ectively'prevented"from fouling either the'foodjor'waterg' f I It will also e apparent; that my novel brood'er is calculated. to preserve the health and conduce tothe comfort of the chicks, and

chambers are properly arranged to meet prev determined conditions. Again when it is necessary to humidify one or all of the chamhers 3, but little effort on the part of the operator is necessary, and the same is true of the removal of droppings from the floor of each chamber or compartment 3 when such removal is necessary. 7

Notwithstanding the practicable advantages ascribed to my novel brooder, it will be appreciated that the brooder as a whole is simple and inexpensive in construction and is free of delicate parts such as are likely to get out of order after a short period of use. I have entered into a detailed description of the construction and relative arrangement of parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact understanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to be understood as limiting myself to the construction and relative arrangement as illustrated and described, my invention being defined by my appended claims within the scope of which modifications may be made Without departing from my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a chick receivin tray having a front wall and end walls of reticulated material, and a trough arranged in front of the lower portion of said tray and accessible to chicks in the tray and having end lugs with notches therein to engage horizontal bars of the front wall and also having terminal bendable tongues adapted to be disposed under horizontal bars of the end walls of the tray. 7 2. The combination of a chick receiving tray having a front wall and end walls of reticulated material, and a trough disposed in front of the lower portion of the tray and having angularly disposed lugs detachably engaged with the front wall and the end walls of the tray whereby the tray and trough are detachably connected together, and the trough is normally maintained against cantmg.

3. The combination of a casing open at its front, trays arranged in the casing one above the other and removable through the front thereof, a plurality of water troughs carried by the trays and maintained one above the other in spaced relation in front of the casing, each trough having a pendent tubular portion, a funnel arranged in each pendent tubular portion. of a trough and adapted to. receive water from the trough, and flexible tubes oined to the pendent tubular portions of the troughs and arranged in front of the trays to discharge into the troughs below.

4. A brooder comprising a casing closed at its back and sides for protective purposes, and open at its front and having a plurality of chambers or compartments, oneabove the other and varying in height, protective curtains at the fronts of said chambers or compartments and chick receiving trays arranged in and removable from the said casing chambers or compartments and varying in height in consonance with said chambers or compartments; each of the trays being provided at the lower portion of its front with an individual trough accessible to chicks within the tray, flexible conduits for leading water from each trough to the trough next below, wherebythe supply of water to the uppermost trough will be attended by Water supply to all of the troughs, a floor constituting the bottom of each chamber or compartment, said floors spaced below the trays and extending outside the casing at one side thereof, movable endless means having stretches above and below the floors and below the trays and operable from points outside the casing, and scrapers carried by said endless movable means for removing dro'ppings from the upper surfaces of the floors.

5. The combination of a casing having chambers or compartments arranged one above the other and equipped for the reception of chicks, a boiler, pipes exterior of the casing and extending outwardly from the boiler, an expansion tank at the upper end of said pipes, lateral pipes leading from the first named pipes and through the said chambers or compartments of the casing, return pipes leading from said lateral pipes back to the boiler, a pipe extending upwardly from the boiler and communicating therewith and having a goose neck higher than the highest point that water reaches-in the heating system, a pipe pendent from said goose neck and equipped adjacent to its lower end with a valve, and valved pipes leading laterally from said pendent'pipeinto the chambers or compartments and terminatingin nozzles for humidifying purposes.

6. The combination of a casing having a plurality of chambers or compartments arranged one above the other and equipped for the reception of chicks, said chambers open at their forwardsides, means for heating said chambers, means for humidifying the chambers, an upright conduit open at its upper and lower ends and spaced back of said casing, conduits connecting the back portions of the interiors of the casing compartments and said upright conduit,'valves for controling communication between the conduits leading from the chambers or compartments and the upright conduit, and thermostatic means in the conduits between the chambers or compartments and the upright conduit and connected with and adapted to control said valves. 4

7 The combination of a casing having a plurality of chambe'rs or compartments arranged one above the other and equipped for the reception of chicks, said chambers open at their forward sides, means for heating said chambers, means for humidifying the cham bers, an upright conduit open at its upper and lower ends and spaced back of said cas ing, conduits connecting the back portions 5 of the interior of the casing compartments and the upright conduit, valves for controlling communication between the conduits leading from the chambers or compartments and the upright conduit, and thermostatic means in the conduits between the chambers -or compartments and the upright conduit and connected with and adapted to control said valves; the connections between the valves and their respective thermostatic means being in the form of rods in which the valves are threaded, and the said rods being equipped with lock nuts for adjustably fixing the valves with respect to the rods. 20 8. In combination, a casing open at its front and closed at its back and sides, and having a plurality of chambers or compartments, chick receiving trays arranged inland removable from said chambers or compartments, each of said trays being equipped with an individual trough movable with the tray as a unit, means for heating the chambers or compartments, means for humidifying the chambers or compartments, an upright conduit open at its upper and lower ends and spaced back of the casing, horizontal conduits connecting the chambers or compartments with the said upright conduit, valves for controlling communication between the 35 ghorizontal conduits and the upright conduit,

thermostatic means in the horizontal conduits and connected with said valves, and means complementary to the casing and clear of the trays whereby the floors of the cham- 40 bers or compartments may be cleared of droppings.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

VOLNEY L. GRAHAM.- 

